The beginning of the siege of Qingdao
The siege of Qingdao was the most striking episode in the war in the Pacific. In Germany, this little-known episode of the war was one of the most striking examples of the courage and resilience of the German army. The German garrison capitulated only after the supply of combat supplies and water began to be pumped.
After the start of the war, Berlin tried to transfer the leased territory to China so that it would not be taken away by force, but due to the opposition of London and Paris, which easily directed the policy of the rotten Celestial Empire, this move failed. I had to prepare for the defense of Qingdao.
Forces of the parties
Germany. The governor of Qingdao and the commander of all forces stationed there was Captain 1st Rank Alfred Wilhelm Moritz Mayer-Waldeck. He became governor of Qingdao in 1911. In peacetime, the fortress garrison consisted of 2325 officers and soldiers. The fortress was pretty well fortified. On the land front, Qingdao was covered by two lines of defense, and 8 coastal batteries were defended from the sea. The first line of defense was located 6 kilometers from the city center and consisted of 5 forts, covered with a wide moat and barbed wire. The second line of defense relied on stationary artillery batteries. In total, from the land side, the fortress was defended by about 100 guns, on the coastal batteries there were 21 guns.
The ships of the East Asian squadron, which could significantly increase the power of the defense, left the port at the beginning of the war in order to avoid the danger of blocking it in the harbor by the enemy's naval forces. However, the old Austrian cruiser "Kaiserin Elizabeth" and several other small ships - destroyers No. 90 and "Taku" and gunboats "Jaguar", "Iltis", "Tiger", "Luke" remained in the port. They were armed with about 40 guns. In the Qingdao fairway, the Germans scuttled several old ships to prevent the enemy from entering the port.
By attracting Austrian volunteer sailors, Mayer-Waldeck managed to bring the number of the garrison to 4,755 officers and privates. The garrison was armed with 150 guns, 25 mortars and 75 machine guns. In this situation, the German garrison had nowhere to wait for help. All that was left was to hope for a quick victory for Germany in Europe.
German position in Qingdao
Entente. The opponents had practically unlimited opportunities to build up the siege army, since the Japanese Empire could concentrate all its resources to fight the German fortress. On August 16, an order was issued in Japan to mobilize the 18th Infantry Division. The reinforced 18th Division became the main Japanese Expeditionary Force. It numbered 32-35 thousand people with 144 guns and 40 machine guns. The commander of the expeditionary forces of Lieutenant General Kamio Mitsuomi, the chief of staff was General of the Engineering Troops Henzo Yamanashi.
Japanese troops landed in 4 echelons with more than fifty ships and vessels. The Japanese troops were supported by a small 1,500 British detachment from Weihaiwei under the command of General N. W. Bernard-Diston. It consisted of a battalion of Welsh (South Welsh) border guards and half a battalion of a Sikh infantry regiment. However, these were light forces that did not even have machine guns.
The expeditionary force was supported by a powerful naval group: 39 warships. The Japanese 2nd Squadron was led by Admiral Hiroharu Kato. The squadron included: battleships "Suo" (the former Russian squadron battleship "Pobeda", was sunk in Port Arthur and raised by the Japanese), "Iwami" (the former Russian squadron battleship "Eagle" captured in the Tsushima battle), "Tango" (the former squadron battleship "Poltava", sunk in Port Arthur, was restored by the Japanese), coastal defense battleships - "Okinoshima" (former Russian coastal defense battleship "General-Admiral Apraksin"), "Mishima" (former "Admiral Senyavin"), armored cruisers Iwate, Tokiwa, Yakumo and other ships. The squadron that blocked Qingdao also included the British battleship Triumph and two destroyers.
Kamio Mitsuomi (1856 - 1927)
The course of the battle
Even before the siege began, the first skirmishes took place. So, on August 21, several British ships chased the German destroyer No. 90 that left the port. The fastest destroyer Kenneth took the lead. He struck up a firefight with a German ship. The British destroyer was better armed (4 76 mm guns versus 3 50 mm guns on a German ship), but at the very beginning of the exchange of fire the Germans successfully got under the bridge. Several people were killed and injured. The destroyer commander was also fatally wounded. In addition, destroyer No. 90 was able to lure the enemy under the attack of coastal batteries, and the British were forced to retreat.
On August 27, 1914, a Japanese squadron approached Qingdao and blocked the port. The next day, the German stronghold was bombed. The destroyers were used for patrol service: 8 ships were in each shift and 4 ships were in reserve. On the night of September 3, 1914, the destroyer Sirotae (destroyers of the Kamikaze class), maneuvering in the fog, ran aground on the island of Lientao. It was not possible to remove the ship, the crew was evacuated. In the morning the destroyer was shot by the German gunboat Jaguar.
Landing began only on September 2, in Longkou Bay on the territory of China, which remained neutral, about 180 kilometers from the German port. The first combat contact took place on September 11 - the Japanese cavalry collided with the German forward posts at Pingdu. On September 18, the Japanese captured Lao Shao Bay northeast of Qingdao, using it as a forward base for operations against Qingdao. On September 19, the Japanese cut the railway, establishing a complete blockade of the fortress. Actually, Japanese troops entered German territory only on September 25th. The day before, a British detachment joined the Japanese army.
It should be noted that the Japanese acted extremely cautiously. They well remembered the terrible losses during the siege of Port Arthur, and did not force the operation. In addition, they fought against their "teachers" - the Germans, which increased their caution. They overestimated the strength and capabilities of the enemy. The Japanese prepared for the assault thoroughly and methodically. The experience of the siege of Port Arthur was of great benefit to the Japanese. They quickly broke through the outer borders of Qingdao: they quickly determined and occupied the dominant heights, captured artillery positions.
On September 26, the Japanese launched the first massive attack on the Qingdao outer defensive line. Over the next few days, Japanese troops drove the Germans out of the outer defensive line. The commander of the Japanese 24th Infantry Brigade, Horiutsi, managed to make a roundabout maneuver and forced the Germans to retreat. At the Shatszykou Bay, the Japanese landed an assault force. On September 29, the Germans left the last stronghold of the outer line of defense, the Prince Heinrich Hill. Their sortie from Qingdao was repelled. The Japanese began preparations for the assault on the fortress. During the first battles, the Japanese lost about 150 people, the Germans more than 100 people. If for the Japanese corps these losses were invisible, then for the Germans they were irreparable.
Like the Russian fortress, Japanese troops began to install large-caliber artillery on the commanding heights. In addition, the German fortress was to be fired upon by the fleet. However, the Japanese ships were hampered by the minefields previously exposed by the Germans. The work to remove these mines cost the Japanese 3 dead and 1 badly damaged minesweeper. Gradually, the blockade ring began to narrow from the side of the sea.
On September 28, systematic shelling began. The Entente battleships regularly shelled Qingdao. As mines were swept, the ships began to approach closer and closer to the port. However, repeated shelling of German positions did not lead to great effect. A significant percentage of shells did not explode at all, and the accuracy of the gunners was low - almost no direct hits were recorded. The German garrison suffered almost no casualties from these attacks. True, they had a psychological effect, suppressed the will to resist and slowly but surely destroyed the fortifications. It must be said that the actions of the German artillery also cannot be called effective. Only one successful hit can be noted. On October 14, the British battleship Triumph was hit by a 240mm shell. The British ship was sent to Weihaiwei for repairs. In addition, it is worth noting the fact that seaplanes from the Wakamia transport carried out the first ever successful "attack of carrier aircraft". They were able to sink a German minelayer in Qingdao.
At the beginning of the siege, German ships supported their left flank with fire (their positions were located in Kiaochao Bay) until the Japanese installed heavy siege weapons. After that, the German gunboats could not actively act. The most striking episode of the actions of the German ships was the breakthrough of the German destroyer No. 90. Neither the old Austrian cruiser Kaiserin Elizabeth, nor the German gunboats had any chance in the fight against the Japanese fleet. The old coal destroyer No. 90 (promoted to destroyer rank on the occasion of the war) under the command of Lieutenant Commander Brunner had a small chance of success in a torpedo attack.
The German command quickly realized that the daytime attack by a single destroyer of Japanese ships during their shelling of the coastal positions of Qingdao was suicide. The best thing was to try to sneak out of the harbor at night, pass the line of patrols and try to attack a large ship. After that, the German destroyer, if not sunk, could go to the Yellow Sea and get into one of the neutral ports. There it was possible to get hold of coal and again attack the enemy, but from the side of the sea.
On the night of October 17-18, the German destroyer, after dark, left the harbor, passed between the islands of Dagundao and Landao and turned south. The Germans found three silhouettes heading west. The German lieutenant commander was able to pass a group of Japanese destroyers and slip through the first blockade line. At 2330 Brunner reversed course to return to the harbor before dawn. The German destroyer was sailing under the coast from the Haisi Peninsula. After midnight, the Germans noticed a large silhouette of the ship. The enemy had 2 masts and 1 pipe and Brunner decided that it was an enemy battleship. In fact, it was an old (1885) Japanese armored cruiser II class "Takachiho". The cruiser, along with the gunboat, served in the second blockade line. Brunner gave full speed and from a distance of 3 cables fired 3 torpedoes with an interval of 10 seconds. All three shells hit the target: the first torpedo in the bow of the ship, the second and third in the middle of the cruiser. The effect was terrible. The ship died almost instantly. In this case, 271 crew members were killed.
After that, Brunner did not break through to Qingdao. The German commander headed southwest. He was lucky again, at about 2.30 destroyer No. 90 parted ways with the Japanese cruiser. Early in the morning, the destroyer was washed ashore near Tower Cape (about 60 miles from Qingdao). Brunner solemnly lowered the flag, the ship was blown up and the crew moved on foot towards Nanking. There the team was interned by the Chinese.
Source: Isakov I. S. Operations of the Japanese against Qingdao in 1914
Fall of the fortress
The Japanese gradually and methodically destroyed the fortifications of Qingdao. Large-caliber artillery destroyed engineering structures. Separate reconnaissance battalions and assault detachments looked for weak points and broke through between the German positions. Before the general assault, the Japanese artillery conducted a 7-day training. It has especially intensified since November 4. More than 43 thousand shells were fired, including about 800 280 mm shells. On November 6, Japanese troops made passes through the moat at the central group of forts. The Japanese assault detachments were quite easily able to reach the rear of the fortifications on Mount Bismarck and west of Mount Iltis. Thus, everything was ready for the final assault.
By this time, it became clear that in Europe, the German Empire did not succeed in a lightning war. The war began to take on a protracted nature. The small garrison of Qingdao had no hope left: it was necessary to surrender or die in the last battle. The German garrison suffered more and more losses from artillery shelling. The remaining guns were running out of ammunition, there was nothing to answer. On November 4, the enemy captured the water pumping station. The fortress was deprived of running water.
On the morning of November 7, the commandant of Qingdao Meyer-Waldeck decided to surrender the fortress. Before that, contrary to the proposals of the Japanese (they dropped leaflets from planes in Qingdao, in which they called not to destroy the structures of the naval base and shipyards), the Germans began to destroy military property. The Germans also blew up the two remaining warships - the Austrian cruiser and the gunboat Jaguar. At 5.15 am on November 8, the fortress surrendered. The last to surrender were the defenders of the fort on Mount Iltis.
Masts of ships sunk in the Qingdao fairway
Outcomes
During the siege, the Japanese lost about 3 thousand people killed and wounded (according to other sources - 2 thousand people). The fleet lost the cruiser Takachiho, a destroyer, and several minesweepers. After the capitulation of the German fortress, on November 11, destroyer No. 33 was blown up by mines and killed. The British lost only 15 people. German losses - about 700 killed and wounded (according to other sources - about 800 people). More than 4 thousand people were taken prisoner. The prisoners were placed in the Bando concentration camp in the area of the Japanese city of Naruto.
It must be said that the calculations of the German command for a longer resistance to Qingdao - 2-3 months of active defense, were not fully justified. In fact, the fortress lasted 74 days (from August 27 to November 8). But real combat operations on land were conducted for 58 days (from September 11), and the active period of the siege of the fortress was only 44 days (from September 25). There are two main reasons for the error in the calculations of the German command. First, the Japanese were in no hurry and acted very carefully. The landing and deployment of the Japanese expeditionary force was greatly delayed. The Japanese command was "burned" at the siege of Port Arthur, where the Japanese losses, despite the victory, were 4 times higher than those of the Russian garrison, and greatly overestimated the capabilities of the German troops in Qingdao. On the other hand, the Japanese were in no hurry, they could calmly and methodically push the enemy, taking advantage of the number of troops and artillery.
At the same time, the Japanese high command highly appreciated this success. The commander of the allied forces during the siege of Qingdao, Kamio Mitsuomi, became the Japanese governor of Qingdao. In June 1916 he was promoted to full general, and a month later he was elevated to the nobility, receiving the title of baron.
Secondly, the leadership of the German defense did not have a desire for a tough defense, for a battle to the last drop of blood. They did everything required of them, but no more. The Germans did not try to jump over their heads and give the Japanese the last battle. This is evidenced by the loss of the Germans and the number of prisoners. More than 4 thousand living and healthy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. Some justified this by the desire to avoid unnecessary sacrifices. But in a war, such "unnecessary" sacrifices make up a picture of a common victory.
In Germany, the defense of Qingdao sparked a patriotic propaganda campaign. For the heroic defense of Qingdao, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II granted Captain 1st Rank Mayer-Waldeck the 1st Class Iron Cross (in 1920 he was promoted to Vice Admiral). And Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz noted in his memoirs: “Qingdao surrendered only when the last grenade flew out of the gun. When thirty thousand enemies began a general assault, which could no longer be repelled by artillery, the question arose as to whether we should allow the remnants of the Germans to be beaten up in the streets of the unfortified city. The governor made the right decision and capitulated."
The shelling of Qingdao
